What is the Nativity model and how does it work?
CJA is modeled on the 35 year-old Nativity model of middle school education, a model which has proven to be incredibly successful in preparing children from modest economic backgrounds for the rigors of college prep high schools and, later, universities. Nativity model middle schools use small classes, longer school days and a longer school year to help children from modest economic backgrounds break the cycle of poverty. Ninety-four percent of Nativity alumni earn their high school degree. Eighty-nine percent of those who earn their high school degree enroll in a college or university. Within the Nativity model, the Jesuits have been able to work in partnership with Catholic dioceses across the country to replicate this innovative model of urban Catholic education. In 2005, the Archdiocese of Chicago agreed to partner with the Jesuits in Chicago to create Chicago Jesuit Academy – the sixteenth Jesuit Nativity school in the country – as a demonstration project in urban Catholic educati
